1. Field of the Invention
A pliers-type handtool includes a fixed and movable handle members connected intermediate their ends for pivotal movement between open and closed positions, thereby to rotate a crimping drum mounted on the fixed handle member from a first position to a second position. To improve the operation of the mechanism and eliminate the jamming thereof, the actuating lever that is pivotally connected at one end with the movable member contains at its other end a divergent lateral slot that receives the crimping drum pin that extends axially from the drum eccentrically relative to the axis thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
This invention is an improvement over the hand-held crimping tool disclosed inn the Applicant's prior European patent No. EP 0562,229, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. In this prior patent, the pliers-type crimping tool includes a supply magazine that supplies a plurality of electrical connectors that are to be connected by crimping to the ends of insulated electrical conductors. The connectors are transported in succession from the supply magazine toward a crimping position by means of a rotary drum that is carried by the fixed handle member.
This known crimping apparatus is relatively complex in construction and requires a large number of precisely machined parts to achieve efficient operation. One drawback to the known machines is their tendency to jam during use. In the known device, an actuating lever is used to connect the movable handle with the crimping drum, use being made of a lateral slot contained in the actuating lever and having parallel side walls, the clearance of the slot throughout its length corresponds with the diameter of the drum pin that extends axially from the crimping drum into the slot contained in the actuating lever.
In practice, this can result in the following undesirable situation. In an attempt to link the drum piece to the transport lever by inserting the drum pin into the slot, there can be a certain kind of interference because the exact position of the slot with relation to the drum pin in the final analysis cannot be achieved with the desired precision by means of tolerances in the remaining complete system.
The present invention was developed to improve handtools of the type involved here that it will be possible to introduce a drum pin into the slot of the actuating lever without any difficulty under all circumstances.